Ozdat Home Feature Cars Ozdat Classifieds Event Calander Links Trade Link Tech Resource Merchandise Donate Web Mail
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:13 pm

All times are UTC+11:00




Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 19 posts ]  Go to page 1 2 »
Author Message
 Post subject: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:13 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
I bought this off a kid out near Malmsbury in western Vic, a couple of years ago for $650.00 after being egged on by Graeme Harlor from NSW.
Truth was that I'd been casually looking for a 'Tow Truck' for a little while & when this popped up I though 'that'd be perfect!'. How wrong I was...

When I collected it, it had NO brakes, it over heated & once I got it home (a 4 hour drive through Melbourne!) it was in slightly worse condition than I expected :(

Before I drove it home:
[ img ]

Home:
[ img ]

[ img ]

The mighty Nissan H30 engine!
[ img ]

At some point in it's life it'd been used for carting Hay, as evedenced by someone standing on the roof to load the bales:
[ img ]

This was going to be an issue - crack exhaust manifold:
[ img ]

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:29 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
I thought about my options for a few weeks, but the Ol' Boy had different idea's & persuaded me to crack on with the repairs...

The brakes needed attention first & foremost and as the fronts were leaking, I removed them sent them off for reconditioning. I got them back with new Stainless sleves fitted - at a cost of $125ea.
There are FOUR of them :(

Next was the brake master cylinder, but this proved much easier & cheaper as it shares the same O-rings as International, Bedford & Dodge trucks of the same vintage, & I was able to reco them myself.
At the same time I fitted new front brake hoses courtesy of Enzed.

We bled the system, took it for a drive around the yard & immediately blew the rear wheel cylinders :cry:

Nothing else for it - strip the rear axles down to access the rear wheel cylinders.
At which point I got a surprise - curved wheel cylinders!
[ img ]

I managed to find a Nissan part number for the rear wheel cylinders (NLA from Nissan), so a call to Auto Surplus was made & they were able to cross reference & find me some replacements O-Rings.
Thankfully the cylinder bores were in VGC after a light hone & I was able to rebuild & refit them - I now had working brakes!

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:48 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
With the brakes sorted, it was time to concentrate on the over-heating issue.

I attempted to back-flush the radiator, but I was getting an awful lot of mud & rust coming out & not a lot of water...
Nothing else for it - I dropped the air scoop, pulled the radiator and took it into my local radiator shop for them to pull the tanks off & flush the core.

An hour later I get a phone call from Big Jim from the Radiator shop: "you core's stuffed mate, but I can get you a new core & reco it for $530.00..."

:cry:

This POS is getting expensive...
New radiator it was as I couldn't find a replacement or a different solution.

When I removed the radiator hoses, the water pump outlet that the top radiator hose connects to had corroded away. The bearing was also a bit notchy.
Thankfully as the H30 is the 6cyl version of the H20 4cyl found in Roadsters & Forklifts, new water pumps are easy to come buy - there goes another $100.00...
[ img ]

I also bought a new thermostat while I was at it, as there wasn't one in it when I bought it!
The cooling system now seems to have stabilized in temp, but a dose of Kero & water to flush out the block is in order...

Next was the the cracked exhaust manifold to fix, & so I bought a new manifold gasket from Nissan in preparation:
[ img ]

I removed the manifolds & then attempted to weld up the crack with a cast Iron welding rod, but sadly the material the manifold was cast from turned out to be un-weldable... :(

We pushed the C80 into the shed & it sat there for 12 months or so while I tried to find a solution...

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:11 am 
Offline
Donating Member
Donating Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:21 pm
Posts: 3241
Location: Zermatt, Switzerland.
Looks good Lurch, keep the updates coming :)

_________________
green200b - aka Alistair

The fleet:
'80 200B GX - the green200b - hibernating indefinitiely
'81 RX-7 - 12A extend port, 4.375 LSD - daily (currently hibernating)
'74 RX-2 - 13B bridgeport, 4.444 LSD - cruiser (also hibernating)
Dato200B wrote:
Green200B has forgotten more about 200Bs than we will ever know.


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:46 am 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
green200b wrote:
Looks good Lurch, keep the updates coming :)
Oh, there is more to come Alister!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The C80 wasn't 'completely' forgotten however - the Ol' Boy's interest in it got the better of him.

The C80 is stored at my parents place (I have no room at mine) & one night I popped around after work to find the Ol' Boy had
replaced the broken side indicators with some Pajero items, fixed the non-working headlights, tail lights, front indicators, horn and a couple of other non-working electrical items.
I got a bit enthused again, so I began the hunt for a replacement exhaust manifold OR a set of extractors.

A common failure with the C80's was a cracked exhaust manifold, so on the few C80's I know what are running, they have extractors fitted (Graeme's in NSW being one).
Phone calls to various exhaust company's yielded no results sadly :(

I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to begrudgingly build a set of pipes myself, so I procured some H-series exhaust flanges via Lou the Datsun Roadster specialist,
as well as a box of mandrel exhaust bends, & started planning...
At the end of last year (2014) I happened to do some work with a pommy bloke called Tim, who as it happened was a bit of a guru at building exhausts & extractors.
Tim was so much of a guru that he actually spent time working in Cologne, Germany for the Toyota F1 team building their exhaust systems.............

So I booked him in earlier this year & we got cracking:
[ img ]

2 looooong days & they were finished. I learnt a lot from Tim & the amount he does just by eye had me surprised.
After media blasting & a couple of coats of Pot Belly Black, they were ready to go on with the rest of the exhaust I built.
[ img ]

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 10:26 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:50 pm
Posts: 298
Location: Central Coast, NSW
Something different. What's the H30 like to drive? Does it feel torquey and decent enough to use as a tow truck?

Keen to see where this heads. Keep at it, seems like your old boy has more motivation than you ha.

_________________
910 S3 Bluebird - FJ20ET, E85, IRS, 5 Speed, 4.4 LSD
910 S3 TRX - RB25DET, Coilovers, S13 Front end, Power Steering
RA23 Celica - 18RG, Twin 40mm Webers, Coilovers, rolling on SSR mesh 15x7 0s.
douglasamills wrote:
1600s arent the only datsun


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 10:33 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 8:17 pm
Posts: 916
Location: Western Australia
Good work lurch, looks like it will be a great tow truck in the end.
Nice lick of paint and the tray tidying up will make it look good

_________________
Circuit Race 1600 in the build


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:34 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:45 pm
Posts: 1035
Location: Zombie-free unfluoridated town in QLD
I like these old things, Richard on 1000.com also has a couple he is using to display his 1000 ute

I prefer the H30 and H20 almost over any datsun motor, they are tough as they come.

http://www.tomeipowered.com/BTE/index.p ... tory/2546/

was a 3 time winner with this engine :))))

In all honesty I thought the Cab 80 had the P40 engines like the Pootrols


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:01 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
Imago wrote:
Something different. What's the H30 like to drive? Does it feel torquey and decent enough to use as a tow truck?
Keen to see where this heads. Keep at it, seems like your old boy has more motivation than you ha.
It performs very well, lots of torque & it will rev if you want it to. I normally take off in 2nd gear as 1st is very short. 1st would be perfect for a loaded hill start.
2nd to 3rd is a reasonable gap, but the gap from 3rd to 4th is HUGE, so you need some decent road speed & revs before you grab 4th.
When I bought it, it sat on 100kph all the way home without a problem (apart from overheating). I should probably fit a Tacho...

The Ol' Boy just doesn't want it sitting in the shed doing nothing! I'm motivated again, so progress will be made!
lampy wrote:
Good work lurch, looks like it will be a great tow truck in the end.
Nice lick of paint and the tray tidying up will make it look good
I don't own a vehicle with 'patina' Hayden, so guess where this is heading...

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:07 pm 
Offline
Donating Member
Donating Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:21 pm
Posts: 3241
Location: Zermatt, Switzerland.
Quote:
I don't own a vehicle with 'patina' Hayden, so guess where this is heading...
Bare metal respray with House of Kolor custom mix?

Hopefully not. What are your plans, more of a tidy up and then a banana-back tow truck?

_________________
green200b - aka Alistair

The fleet:
'80 200B GX - the green200b - hibernating indefinitiely
'81 RX-7 - 12A extend port, 4.375 LSD - daily (currently hibernating)
'74 RX-2 - 13B bridgeport, 4.444 LSD - cruiser (also hibernating)
Dato200B wrote:
Green200B has forgotten more about 200Bs than we will ever know.


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:51 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:15 pm
Posts: 235
Location: NSW Sydney
This thing is awesome man I'll defiantly be checking for updates


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:37 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
green200b wrote:
Quote:
I don't own a vehicle with 'patina' Hayden, so guess where this is heading...
Bare metal respray with House of Kolor custom mix?

Hopefully not. What are your plans, more of a tidy up and then a banana-back tow truck?
Correct! Candy Apple Magenta!

Yeah, more tidying up still to do Al, then clear coat the cab & then Banana back it :wink:

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:44 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 6:54 pm
Posts: 2435
Location: In my Den of Rust & Sin
So the observant of you may have noticed in the photo above of the extractors being made that there is also a manifold in place & some Hitachi's in view...

Late last year (2014) I happened to be speaking to an acquaintance of mine in Japan & in passing told him what I was up to.
I mentioned that it'd be great to take advantage of the new extractors (when I build them) with some better induction, over the tiny downdraft Hitachi...

A longer than normal pause occurred on the other end of the line...

"I'll call you back in a couple of days." *click*

A few days later, via a friend, of a friend... of a friend who had a heap of bizarre Nissan/Datsun 'parts' in Japan, I was able to purchase a very VERY rare manifold.

[ img ]

What you see there is a triple side draft manifold to suit a Nissan H30! :shock:
As it turned out, the manifold was 'apparently' originally fitted to a H30 powered Nissan President that was used for 'diplomatic duties' in Japan.

When I received it, it was badly damaged - cracked in multiple places, bent & missing it's linkage arrangement.
A few hours over a few weekends went into repairing it and getting it back into usable condition, and I already had enough parts in my collection to make a suitable linkage setup,
Interestingly the bolt pattern is for 1.5inch Hitachi's (SU's) and I already had a set of twin 1.5inch Hitachi's from a Stanza SSS in my parts bin and a friend in Melbourne gave me the 3rd one, after which they were all reconditioned with 240Z needles & needle tubes.

[ img ]

A couple of weekends ago I finally got a chance to install them on the H30, along with a custom fuel rail (made from 5/16 & 1/4 Bundy tube silver soldered together) and a heat shield I made
from some 2.5mm Alum off-cut.

(Not quite finished in this photo)
[ img ]

So after all this effort, swearing & banged knuckles, it was time to hit the key...

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:35 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 1:54 pm
Posts: 1718
Location: Melbourne, VIC
Very interesting, great to see something completely different.

_________________
build-threads.com


Top
   
 Post subject: Re: Nissan C80
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:50 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 2:28 pm
Posts: 5357
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Awesome. The induction noises coming from underneath the cab are certainly going to be interesting.

_________________
1972 Datsun 1600, S14 SR20DET Engineered (204rwkW @ 17psi.)
viewtopic.php?t=6579
#SR20Datsun @SR20Datsun


Top
   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 19 posts ]  Go to page 1 2 »

All times are UTC+11:00


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to: 

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited